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Sale of a lifetime: Florida’s Milhous brothers offer up their eclectic collection: Video

February 1, 2012

After a lifetime of collecting everything from vintage cars to vintage musical instruments, the brothers Milhous--that’s Bob and Paul to their friends--are putting their world-famous but rarely seen collection on auction.

Combining equal parts estate planning and the desire to move on, more than 40 vehicles--including racing, Brass Era, turn-of-the-century and bespoke vintage models--will cross the block Feb. 24-25 at the Milhous Museum in Boca Raton, Fla. The sale, operated by RM Auctions in association with Sotheby’s, will take place during the same weekend as the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance.

The collection started in 1959 with Paul’s musical instruments. Bob was in the process of collecting cars. Before long, they found that they had too many of both, so the decision was made to combine the two disparate collectible groups in a museum. They were off to the races.

That led to their large collection of “reproducing pianos,” which replicate the subtlety of the composer’s original composition, as opposed to player pianos, which play the correct notes but without the delicate touch of the original.

That collection continued onward to nickelodeons and orchestrions. While the better-known nickelodeon was a music box that operated according to a tin disk, an orchestrion took the place of a 24-piece orchestra. One is included in the auction. The Weber Maesto is considered the finest example of an orchestrion, and the Milhous-owned piece is one of seven remaining in the world. Playing music by reading paper rolls, it cost about the same as a house in Germany, but when measured against the payroll of a 24-piece combo five nights a week, the cost savings were evident.

The entire collection has been located since 1990 in a 39,000-square-foot museum, which is also headquarters to the Milhous business operations. Originally involved in the printing industry, Paul, 73, and Bob, 75, expanded their reach into real estate and other concerns. To this point, the collection has been closed to the public but has been a popular venue for charity and social events.

An eclectic stew of mechanics and aesthetics, their collection includes such items as petroliana (objects found around vintage gas stations, including porcelain signs, fuel pumps and the like), a custom-commissioned carousel and precision-detailed, gas-powered tether cars that depict famous race cars of the day.

The cars up for sale include a 1956 Chrysler Imperial Crown limousine with body by Ghia. Displayed in the museum lobby, the Imperial is joined by the 1949 “Automobile Shippers Special” Indy car, which was driven by one-legged driver Bill Schindler.

Race cars hold a special place with the Milhous brothers, as evidenced by a collection that includes a 1949 Rounds Rocket mid-engined roadster, a 1962 Lesovsky Indianapolis roadster and a 1984 March-Cosworth 84C driven by Teo Fabi.

The 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Roi des Belges has seen several different bodies in its lifetime, the most recent being coachwork by Alford & Alder.

A number of Chryslers, in addition to the previously mentioned Ghia limousine, have become prized members of the Milhous collection. Notables include the 1933 Custom Imperial Phaeton that was the personal vehicle of automotive designer Ralph Roberts. Resplendent in its Moon Glow Polychromatic finish, it is turned out with fender skirts that went missing in the custody of previous owners.

Also in the Chrysler camp is a 1941 Windsor Town & Country Barrel Back. Able to accommodate up to nine passengers, it has some of the loveliest paneling seen on any type of woody.

In a replica luxury-car showroom, a 1932 Marmon Sixteen convertible sedan commands the attention of all passersby. It’s one of 11 surviving examples. In another corner is a 1937 Cadillac Sixteen Custom Phaeton, itself a class winner at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Painted in piano black, it has custom coachwork by Fleetwood.

Probably one of the most prized cars in the collection is the 1934 Packard Eight Convertible Victoria. Believed to have been owned by actress Marie Dressler, its Dietrich-designed body helped it take Best in Show honors at the 1975 Pebble Beach concours.

Bob and Paul Milhous are quick to say that they acquired whatever struck their fancy. “We never looked at cars as an investment,” Bob said.

Paul added, “If one of us was against a purchase, we just didn’t do it.”